New Mexico Democrats including gubernatorial candidate Gary King gathered on Saturday with a teachers union for a rally attended by radical union leaders from across the country in which a union leader called Gov. Susana Martinez (R.) the "wicked witch."
The rally was organized by the American Federation of Teachers in New Mexico and was attended by King along with many other Democratic candidates for office.
King was introduced at the rally by Jitu Brown, a Chicago union organizer known best for leading the teachers strike that shut down Chicago’s public schools for eight days.
Brown led the union crowd in a "shut it down" chant, bragging before he began that he has "shut down many a school board meeting with this chant."
Brown then stated his belief that King is the type of governor the union would need in the case that they cause a shut down in New Mexico.
"So after we shut it down, we have to have somebody in office that would help save New Mexico," said Brown. "So please give a round of applause to the next governor of the great state of New Mexico, Mr. Gary King."
Leading the rally was Stephanie Ly, president of AFT NM, who was heard calling Martinez the "wicked witch."
Earlier this year, the King campaign posted a blog post that also depicted Martinez as the "wicked witch" and called her "stupid." The campaign has also had to fire a campaign manager for making multiple offensive remarks.
King’s campaign has been criticized for the nasty rhetoric it is using to attack his opponent. Most recently King said that Martinez, the nation’s first Latina governor, "does not have a Latino heart," prompting calls for an apology from many in the Latino community.
King refused to apologize for the comment.
King also is not the first Democrat to make this sort of attack against Martinez; another candidate this election said that "we need to send her back to wherever she really came from."